Clay Kaytis

Clay Kaytis is an American animator and film director whose career spans over two and a half decades in the animation industry. Born on March 22, 1973, in Orange County, California, Kaytis grew up fascinated by the moving images that defined his childhood, a passion that eventually led him to the hallowed halls of Walt Disney Animation Studios in the mid‑1990s. He entered the studio as a junior animator in 1995 and quickly earned a reputation for his keen eye for timing and his willingness to experiment with emerging computer‑generated techniques. Over the next nineteen years he contributed to several of Disney’s modern classics, most notably Tangled, where his work on the fluid choreography of the lantern scene earned praise, Wreck‑It Ralph, where he helped shape the film’s vibrant visual language, and the Oscar‑winning Frozen, where his animation of the snow‑filled environments added a palpable sense of wonder. Kaytis’s tenure at Disney culminated in a deep understanding of both traditional storytelling and cutting‑edge technology, a blend that prepared him for the next phase of his career. In 2013 Kaytis left Disney to pursue directing, and his first major assignment was co‑directing The Angry Birds Movie (2016) for Sony Pictures, a project that translated the wildly popular mobile game into a feature‑length comedy with broad family appeal; the film’s box‑office success demonstrated his capability to helm large‑scale productions. He followed this with his live‑action debut, the holiday‑themed Netflix adventure The Christmas Chronicles (2018), which showcased his talent for blending visual effects with heartwarming narratives. Subsequent projects include the announced Amblin Partners feature The Lunch Witch and the 2022 sequel A Christmas Story Christmas, a nostalgic continuation of the 1983 classic that further cemented his reputation as a versatile director capable of navigating both animated and live‑action realms. Away from the set, Kaytis is married to producer Monica Lago‑Kaytis, and while he keeps his private life low‑key, his partnership frequently informs his collaborative approach to filmmaking.